Food stamps, struggle to pay for asthma medication linked to poor disease control
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Key takeaways:
- The prevalence of poor asthma control was high among children whose families received food stamps.
- Researchers also found an increased prevalence among those struggling to pay for asthma medication.
WASHINGTON — Among children with asthma, poor disease control was linked to receipt of food stamps and trouble affording medication, according to data presented at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Annual Meeting.
In this study, Wimwipa Mongkonsritragoon, MD, research fellow at Children’s Hospital of Michigan, and colleagues assessed 2,090 children (1,216 boys) with well-controlled asthma and 507 children (305 boys) with not well-controlled asthma from the 2014 to 2019 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Asthma Call-back Survey to determine how social determinants of health are linked to asthma control.
Researchers deemed two or more exacerbations requiring systemic corticosteroids per year as not well-controlled asthma.
Within the total cohort, a small percentage of children did not have insurance (1.8%).
With regard to cost, researchers found a low percentage of children unable to afford asthma medication (8.85%), visits to a primary care physician (8.83%) and visits to an asthma specialist (3.74%).
Of the characteristics assessed, researchers observed a significant link between receipt of food stamps and not well-controlled asthma in children (adjusted prevalence ratio = 7.94; 95% CI, 2.29-27.53).
Being unable to pay for asthma medication was also significantly linked to poorly controlled asthma (adjusted prevalence ratio = 1.9; 95% CI, 1.38-2.61), according to researchers.
Notably, researchers reported no significant link between asthma control and insurance type (private or government), the inability to afford a primary care visit or the inability to afford an asthma specialist visit.
“Our findings highlight the need for strategies to ensure children with asthma have access to affordable medication, potentially improving overall asthma outcomes,” Mongkonsritragoon said during her poster presentation. “Conducting screenings for social determinants of health, such as assessing food insecurity, health care accessibility and socioeconomic challenges, can play a role in identifying patients at risk of adverse asthma related outcomes.”